In this episode of “What’s the Risk?” we explore the historical performance of the MSCI World ex Australia Index (net div., AUD), a global benchmark tracked by Vanguard’s VGS ETF. Since its inception in 1975, this index, covering large- and mid-cap stocks across 22 developed markets, has navigated significant market cycles, offering a compelling case […]
In this episode of “What’s the Risk?” we dive into the historical performance of the ASX 300 Index, a benchmark capturing the top 300 companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Widely recognized through Vanguard’s VAS ETF, which seeks to replicate the index’s performance, the ASX 300 offers a broad snapshot of Australia’s equity market. […]
No contribution this month because the taxman came calling. This is only the second time I’ve missed a monthly contribution, both were related to paying tax. What I had to pay was around the same as a monthly contribution. Sure, I could set aside from distributions, but it seems easier to reinvest when you receive […]
One of the big allures of investing is finding a company at a low price, buying it, and then riding it to a high price. Very sweet. It’s said that losses are felt more acutely than wins, but hitting a big winner would be an amazing feeling. Unfortunately, it’s very hard to do. Being right […]
April was a down month, but also one where distributions came in. Which is somewhat handy if you get to reinvest them at a discount. Given they don’t arrive in the account until the 3rd week if the month has had a rough start it can work out in your favour. The month’s actual contribution […]
A few years ago, ESG investing, also known as sustainable, ethical, or socially responsible investing, was all the rage. It was consistently touted in the media as the future. This meant investors were hot on it. Advisers would have clients, and prospective clients, asking what ESG offerings they had. It seemed many investors wanted to […]
March was a pretty decent month, and it pushed the 1 year return above 20%. I split the contribution between global value and emerging markets. One of the issues when you have seven holdings, and three of them are around 5-7%, is they can feel a little unloved from time to time. They may lag […]
A few years back, entrepreneurial guru Tim Ferriss, had the author and documentary maker Sebastian Junger on his podcast. Junger, who has taken plenty of risks in his career, including spending substantial amounts of time embedded with US soldiers in Afghanistan, was asked by Ferris what advice a 70-year-old Junger would offer to his current […]
It’s said that grey divorce is on the rise. Around a quarter of divorces are marriages that were twenty years or longer. Thirty years ago, it was around one in five marriages. And while it might not be a huge difference, there’s one thing that has changed since the 90’s. Wealth. There’s a lot more […]
The first day of February and it was a full contribution, plus all the prior quarter’s distributions, put into global infrastructure. I expect infrastructure will grow a little bit this year, not in terms of investment growth because I have no idea about that, but in terms of size in the portfolio. I expect the […]
